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Roadster as daily driver?

Hi folks, I'm considering buying a practically brand-new 2008 Roadster, with 4,000 miles on the odometer. I'm debating between putting it in a garage and keeping there forever, or using it as a daily driver.

My question is, does anyone on this forum use a Roadster as a daily driver? If so, what has your experience been?

I've got 49k on mine. DaveD, who has a very similar one near me, has over 90k on his.

I'm doing a temporary gig at a Tesla delivery center right now; my round-trip for that is 38 miles. I retired a few months after I bought it so I haven't commuted a lot, but I've taken it on 7 road trips between 1600 and 3500 miles, and I take it to many local EV events; those are anywhere from 3 to 200 miles away. And of course I take it in to town for many errands, though I'm doing that less now that I have an electric bike.

I've only had one issue, a voltage sensor in my battery pack went bad. There story is on these forums HERE. Unfortunately anything in the pack is expensive to fix (which is why I am hoping the Roadster 3.0 upgrade includes a good warranty) but they actually gave me a newer pack and included a free service and a year warranty.

You may also want to check out the Plug In America "Roadster Survey" that tomsax put together HERE.

My wife has been using her CPO Sig Roadster as a daily driver. We picked it up with 2220 on odometer and it has about 16k now. Her commute went from 60-70 RT for the first year and dropped close to zero (she's home-based now) the last year...

We're in SoCal, so weather is pretty good and since we're in a drought not much weather problems.

When there is no snow, my Roadster is my daily driver for 4 years now.
Fantastic car. My daily commute is about 60 Km. It has 55 000 Km on the clock now. Several problems as main battery that had to replaced, everything under warranty.

My 2010 Roadster is the only car in my family. I bought it with 25k miles two and a half years ago and it now has over 60k. I commute daily to and from work and take it to San Francisco from time to time. I've even gone on several road trips with my girlfriend, 25lb dog and bags for the weekend.

Had the car just about a year. I drive the car pretty much every day May through the end of October, assuming it looks like I'll get to do at least half the commute with the top off. Sometimes this involves gloves and a hat. Other times I end up getting a bit wet. Taken it on several hundred mile trips without issue. Only stranded once.

Its a blast to drive. I could do without the people nearly to driving me off the road trying to take pictures of it, and the yelling things at my at stop lights ... but you typically forget about that when you give the go button a good hard shove.

Depending on the previous owner there are probably a few things you'll want to do. Changing the headlights (if they're not HID) and getting these side view mirrors should be high on the list. You'll almost certainly want hcsharp's CAN-J and CAN-SR charging adapters. The CAN-SR makes a nice pair with a Model S UMC, which if you're planning on taking any long distance trips is a lot nicer than the Roadster UMC. Other bits like suspension and different brake pads are a good plan too.

Some upsides: Really fun to drive... Connected to the road feel. Instant passing power. Looks awesome. Seats are comfortable for a car of this type.
Some downsides: Wind noise on the highway. Bit of a chore to get in and out. Minimal storage space. Hard to steer in tight parking lots.

...You'll almost certainly want hcsharp's CAN-J and CAN-SR charging adapters. The CAN-SR makes a nice pair with a Model S UMC, which if you're planning on taking any long distance trips is a lot nicer than the Roadster UMC. ...

Some upsides: Really fun to drive... Connected to the road feel. Instant passing power. Looks awesome. Seats are comfortable for a car of this type.
Some downsides: Wind noise on the highway. Bit of a chore to get in and out. Minimal storage space. Hard to steer in tight parking lots.

Click to expand...

Here too... The manual steering is a work out at slow speeds, and parallel parking.

And there is a funny YouTube video from Tesla on getting in and out of the Roadster.
(Can't seem to find this instructional video now. Anyone remember and bookmark this link?)

I use mine as a daily driver, 100+ mile round trip - really helps using the commute lane. ~75K miles on two roadsters - never had any major problems
but a few minor things -

1. #783 had an electronic component fail in the PEM after the warranty expired - ~$500 for diagnosis/repair
2. kept having to replace rear tires on #783 every 6-8K miles but that's because I was having too much fun in the beginning
3. leaks in trunks of #783 and #970 when it'd rain a lot - fixed under warranty
4. 12V battery in #783 kept dying but probably because my huge subwoofer (aftermarket) was turned up too much
5. Blower gets clogged with leaves, etc. so you might need more than an annual cleaning
6. Head unit connector on #970 got loose and needed a new wiring harness

#783 got ~51K miles before road debris wrecked the battery (had 500 when I bought it) and battery went from 187 ideal to 170 in standard charge
#970 has ~53K miles and currently also gets about 170 in standard charge

The Tesla Roadster is the greatest commute car ever made, bar none. It is a treat to be able to drive such a quick, agile and aesthetically pleasing vehicle on a daily basis. In addition to all those qualities, it also qualifies for car pool and you never have to stop for gas. One of my favorite features is that when you get stuck in stop and go traffic, you never have to worry about the clutch and you rarely have to depress the brake pedal. The accelerator pedal does it all; when you take your foot off the gas, the car automatically slows down. I have driven from San Francisco to San Jose during commute hour without hitting my brakes a single time.

Parking is another great feature. With previous commuter cars that I've driven, primarily Porsches, there was always a fear of door dings. With the little Roadster, there is so much more space and door ding incidents are of little concern.

I go everywhere in my Roadster. I go to the post office. I go to the barber shop. I go to the grocery store. I think up excuses to go run errands with it. There are some other exotic sports cars (without naming names) that aren't fun to just drive around town. The Roadster is great to drive anywhere at any speed, fast or slow.

Having said that, obviously it's not a SUV. It's a two-seater with limited cargo space. Rear visibility is not great. Getting in and out takes practice. You'll want to be careful at some street intersections and parking lot ingress and egress, lest you scrape bottom. Potholes, speed bumps or rumble strips will really shake you up. I can live with that.

Hi folks, I'm considering buying a practically brand-new 2008 Roadster, with 4,000 miles on the odometer. I'm debating between putting it in a garage and keeping there forever, or using it as a daily driver.

My question is, does anyone on this forum use a Roadster as a daily driver? If so, what has your experience been?

Click to expand...

How could you ever consider garaging it forever?

My Roadster has been my daily driver for 4 years and all seasons in VT (just put on the snow tires)! I have 43K+ on it, and I have only seen a small drop in my charge capacity (used to charge to 192 now to about 186) so maybe 3% drop in 4 years.

It is a wonderful daily drive, and I wouldn't trade it (except maybe for Tesla's next sports car with Supercharging capability!)

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